This week, a letter from Kenmare to the editor outlined the plight of small businesses in small Irish towns. The writer explained how the heart has been torn out of a once-bustling town as businesses shut and footfall declines, while commercial rates rise. As more businesses close, the rates on the remaining businesses must rise in order to finance the same level of local services. As you can see, this form of taxation entails an inbuilt dynamic contradiction, wherein a downward spiral is not only possible but likely, once a town begins to lose its appeal.

I’ve a particular fondness for Kenmare, not because the annual bash of the Dublin Economic Workshop was typically held in the town, but because the Riversdale nightclub was located just out the road. The Riversdale’s catchment area – an accurate description – extended for miles. Jumping into a cousin’s car in Ballyvourney, west Cork and heading inland over the back roads to Kenmare was what an early 1990s Saturday night was all about.

The Riversdale nightclub, like the hotel, is long gone and, according to the letter writer, Kenmare – once a lively tourist attraction for nationals and internationals – is on a steep decline. With a population of 2,500, Kenmare has higher education levels than the county average – 27 per cent of the locals have college degrees or higher. According to the census, since 2016 the population has increased marginally by 1.3 per cent but unemployment remains far above the national average at 12.6 per cent.

The main outward sign of a problem in Kenmare (as is the case with so many Irish small towns) is vacancy and, inevitably, dereliction. Once vacancy takes hold, it sends a signal to prospective buyers or tenants that business is declining, underscoring a prevailing sense of urban........

© The Irish Times